Baptism as Theological Intersection in Gregory Nazianzen’s Oration 39

Abstract

This paper is a close reading of Gregory Nazianzen’s Oration 39, devoted to an exposition of the baptism of Jesus and of its connection to Christian baptism. It is one of two homilies by Gregory devoted entirely to the topic of baptism. The paper argues Gregory’s theology of baptism both constructs and is constructed by a larger web of Christian theological ideas, including Christology, soteriology and hamartiology. In so doing, Christian theology becomes personal to every recipient of baptism. In other words, baptism accomplishes more than simply uniting the baptizand formally and publicly to the Christian Church. It functions as a tutor into the ways of thinking like a Christian about God, the world and about what God is doing in the world. Indeed, Gregory’s understanding of the connection between Jesus’ baptism and Christian baptism supports his larger point that the closer one draws to Christ, the greater one’s receipt of illumination from God. Baptism sets the Christian aright on the road leading to the light of God. Consequently, the baptized person emerges with a more correct understanding of God and of God’s love for humanity made manifest in the life, particularly the baptism, of Christ. For the baptized Christian, this new insight contributes to a more theologically-rich experience of worship.